קמפיין MARIANAS 1944-משימה#17 16/4/2012 22:30 - חיפוי אוניות

Ok I have made a slight alteration or three

Starfire I have taken on board your comments and thought about them.
I do appreciate it is a gamble to send fighters out looking for the enemy when we could be focussed on defending our zones, however I think in this case the risk is worthwhile. Besides with what I have in mind we are sending out just 6 a/c

I also understand your comments about the bombs onboard the P47, yes they add options but we need those P47s to climb hard and fly fast and attacking ships is just not part of their mission, we have other a/c that can be vectored onto shipping trade. However we are flexible on this matter and will leave it to whomever is flying those a/c to decide.

I have made one or two small changes to the plan, the primary changes are that I have reduced the CAP on the south group, increased the CAP on the north group, provided the Shamrock with a pair of fighters to protect it early in the mission and the last change is more a/c will come from the supply points.

edit: I also changed the anti-ship patrol to 2xTBM (2000lb bomb) and 2xTBF (RP + 500lb) now this group will work as one four ship flight and with the mixed ordnance can choose what ordnance to use dependant on what targets they find.

The reason for lowering the initial CAP on the south group is that I expect our fighters heading to Guam will meet little if any enemy fighters and the escorting FM2 will be sent back to the CV group. Also because of the need for fighters to protect the fleet I think it is pointless to use TBM's as jabos over Guam because then we must task fighters to protect them. Instead we will send F6F jabos to Guam with FM2 escorts, this small amendment uses up more of our available F6F in the south so to compensate we must bring new F6F's from the supply point.

Both fleets will end up with 14 a/c on CAP although the south fleet will be able to call upon the 4xF6F jabos at Guam. Some of those CAP fighters will have to fly for 30mins+ to reach their target CV's which means our CAP's will be understrength until the full compliment of fighters arrive.

The north fleet has an initial cap strength of 8a/c with an additional 4 coming from a supply point with a 150km flight. The last pair for the north are a pair of P47s from Saipan.

The south fleet has an initial cap strength of 6 a/c with an addtional 4 coming from a supply point with a 200km flight. The last 4 a/c for the south CAP are the 4 escort fighters that I expect will return from Guam quite early in the mission.

Hunting North - 3a/c
3xP47-D22 - 19th FS Flt.1 El.1(Saipan) - with D/T - 64th Sentai


Hunting West - 2a/c
3xF4U-1A - USMC 213Sqn Flt. 3 El.2(CV Intrepid) - Centreline DT - VARP


Guam - 8a/c
4xJabo F6F3 - VF10 Flt.1 El.3(CV Lexington) - RP+Bombs+DT - EAF
4xFighter FM2 - VF20 Flt.1 El.1(CV Lexington) - DT - EAF


IJN Shipping Patrol - 4 a/c
2xTBM-3 - USMC 231Sqn Flt.1 El.4(CV Intrepid) - 2000lb bomb - 242Sqn
2xTBF-1C - USMC 231Sqn Flt.1 El.2(CV Intrepid) - 8xAP HVAR + 2x500lb - 242Sqn
Search the seas west to south of Guam. Ideally you guys will wait on the CV for 30mins and then search using low power settings (50power/50pitch) However waiting on the CV is optional and will not be forced upon anyone


CAP North Transport's/CV's - 14 a/c
4xF6F3 - VF15 Flt.2 El.1(CV Enterprise) - 2x500lb + DT - IAF
4xFM2 - VF19 Flt.1 El.2(CV Enterpise) - DT - IAF
4xF6F3 - VF19 Flt.2 El.1(Supply Point)- 2x500lb + DT - DD
2xP47 - 19th FS Flt.2 El.2(Saipan) - DT - DD


CAP South Transport/CV's - 10 a/c
4xF6F3 - VF14 Flt.4 El.1(Supply Point) - 2x500lb + DT - 102nd
2xF6F3 - VF10 Flt.1 El.2(CV Saratoga) - 2x500lb + DT - 102nd
2xF6F3 - VF31 Flt.1 El.4(CV Lexington) 2x500lb + DT - 102nd
1xFM2 - VF15 Flt.1 El.1(CV Saratoga) - DT - LLv34
1xFM2 - VF15 Flt.1 El.2(CV Saratoga) - DT - LLv34

The south transport group will benefit from any fighters returning from Guam and as there is just a single transport to protect here we cannot afford to let a single enemy a/c through or Rota is lost. When those a/c return from Guam they should be dedicated to protecting that transport.


Ok I have made a draft of the a/c allocation, I think the above will work quite well for everyone, its not perfect but I think it will do.

EAF - 8a/c
IAF - 8a/c
102nd - 8a/c
64th - 3a/c
LLv34 - 2a/c
242Sqn - 4a/c (1 spare machine here)
DD - 6a/c
VARP - 3a/c